Vehicles damaged in an accident usually require expensive repairs including careful and accurate straightening and correction of the deformation. Devices for repairing damaged vehicles typically include a number of beams attached to each other at 90 degrees. In addition, they typically require the vehicle to be jacked up so that the device can be positioned under the vehicle, wherein the device is attached to the vehicle at typically four locations. Such devices are costly, require extensive time to set up, and require highly skilled technicians to operate.
It is therefore desirable to provide vehicle repairing devices which are low cost and compact, readily set up and operated, and which provide effective repair of damaged unibodies.
This object is achieved with the vehicle repairing device disclosed in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,910,186. The device comprises a generally V-shaped base comprising a first substantially horizontal elongated member and a second substantially horizontal elongated member attachable to each other at an angle of less than 90 degrees. A pair of clamps are attached to the first member to attach the first member to a vehicle, preferably at two different pinchweld locations. A separate clamp attaches the second member to the vehicle, preferably at another location which is different from the two pinchweld locations to which the first member is attached.
Generally for most cars, "single" pairs of clamps are needed for the three clamping locations. However, for certain vehicles, such as Honda.RTM. motor vehicles, it is necessary to secure the vehicle body, which is of a so-called "unibody frame construction", with "dual" clamps at each of the clamp positions. Specifically, the clamp must be affixed to both the vehicle's horizontal pinchweld and the vertical jack tab at each clamp position. Otherwise, attempting to repair the vehicle with a pulling device with only either the horizontal pinchwelds or vertical jack tabs clamped could result in distortion and/or deformation of the vehicle unibody.
Clamping adapters have been proposed to provide these dual clamping functions but they generally are high in cost, complicated, difficult to use and/or not easily or universally adaptable. For example, one conventional clamping adapter requires the use of a multiplicity of shims to adjust the height of the clamps which incurs additional set-up time.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a dual clamping adapter for vehicle repairing devices which is relatively simple in construction and economical to fabricate, which allows ready set-up and operation and which is readily adaptable to variously configured and dimensioned vehicle framed bodies.
Certain of the foregoing and related objects are readily attained in a dual clamping adapter for securing a vehicle body undercarriage having both horizontal pinchwelds and vertical jack tabs to a vehicle repairing device comprising a generally L-shaped clamp bracket having a generally upright upper leg and a generally horizontal lower leg, first means for releasably clamping a horizontal pinchweld of a vehicle body undercarriage, second means for releasing clamping a vertical jack tab of a vehicle body undercarriage, means for adjustably mounting said first means for releasably clamping on said upper leg of said clamp bracket and said second means for releasably clamping on said lower leg of said clamp bracket, and means for adjusting the height of said clamp bracket.
Preferably, the first and second means for releasably clamping comprises a pair of clamping plates. Desirably, the means for adjustably mounting comprises at least one elongated slot formed in said upper leg and at least one elongated slot formed in said horizontal leg. Advantageously, the means for adjusting the height of said clamp comprises a generally vertically-disposed threaded rod having a top end releasably secured to said lower leg of said clamp bracket. Most advantageously, the rod is supported in a cylindrical tube for vertically displaceably movement and said means for adjusting the height includes means for locking said rod at a fixed height relative to said tube. Most desirably, the lower leg of the bracket is Y-shaped. The lower leg of the bracket preferably has a downwardly depending leg and the rod has means for releasably clamping said downwardly depending leg.
Certain of the foregoing and related objects are also attained in a device for straightening damaged vehicle bodies with an undercarriage having both horizontal pinchweld and vertical jack tabs comprising a first elongated member which is selectively positionable under the undercarriage of a damaged vehicle body, said first elongated member comprising a first end and a second end, a second elongated member selectively attachable to said first elongated member at an angle of less than 90 degrees, means for applying a pulling force selectively connectable to at least one of said elongated members and means for attaching said force applying means to a damaged vehicle, and two clamps slidably mounted on said first elongated member for attaching said first elongated member to said damaged vehicle body, and a clamp slidably mounted on said second elongated member for attaching said second elongated member to said damaged vehicle body, said clamps each being of the type described above.
These and other embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the figures.